Concealed Spirits
by punkish furball
Summary: Higurashi Sota, a powerful duelist with many secrets, arrived at Duel Academy with one intention and one alone. He won't allow anyone to stand in his way even as he follows a path of no return and even as he hurts the ones he claims to protect. Unfortunately for him, Yuki Judai never understood the meaning of "stay away".
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer for this story: **__Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is property of Naoyuki Kageyama and InuYasha is property of Rumiko Takahashi. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author, punkish furball. The author, punkish furball, is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. The author, punkish furball, makes no profit from this fanfiction. No copyright infringement is intended._

punkish furball – Hey, you guys! ^.^

**Words to Ponder:**

It's a new crossover! (fireworks and confetti) This time I will be dabbling in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Like my Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover, _**Fragmented**__**Fate**_, I will be using the English names for the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters. While I like the dubs, sometimes they're way too silly.

I hope the first chapter is enjoyable and remember: Any questions? Comments? Words of Wisdom? Contact me! XD Without further ado, enjoy!

Fun Fact: Dr. Crowler or Cronos de Medici is Italian.

**Prologue**

The large ship headed to Duel Academy was abuzz with the excited chatter of eager transfer students. The scheduled entrance exams for transfers were conducted shortly after the initial entrance tests for those who applied late to the academy or wanted to switch campus locations. All those who passed this written exam were going to join one of the greatest dueling institutions established by Seto Kaiba himself. It didn't concern them that they were limited to joining the Slifer Red dorms—excluding the girls who were all welcomed in Obelisk Blue.

"What's with that guy?" one boy, Taski, asked his surrounding peers. He pointed at the raven haired boy looking at the sea from a port side window. He was one of the few people seated by his self. He looked around age twelve or thirteen, a few years younger than most Duel Academy applicants but still old enough to enroll. His deck box was strapped on his belt and his duel disk system was resting in the seat to his right.

"That's Higurashi Sota-san," one transfer, Hideo, answered, "He won one of Japan's regional Duel Monsters tournaments held in Domino City, Kaiba's hometown."

"Really?" another, Yukio, considered, "That must be how he got into Duel Academy."

"What do you mean?" Taski inquired.

"The tournament's grand prize was a scholarship with automatic admission to the academy," Yukio explained.

"I heard he came all the way from Tokyo just to compete," Hideo added, "He beat all his opponents without breaking a sweat!"

"Really?" Taski exclaimed, "That deck of his must be loaded with some pretty sweet rare cards!"

"Did he take the written exam with us?" Yukio asked Hideo, who seemed to have the most information on their fellow duelist.

"He had to so the academy could see how he ranked compared to the rest of us," Hideo responded, "I overheard the tests proctors saying he got the highest score overall."

"So what?" a female student, Chie, haughtily interjected in the conversation, "There's like twenty of us who made the cut out of everyone else who took the test. It couldn't have been that hard to get the top score."

"That's just it," Hideo stated firmly, "Higurashi-san got a perfect score."

"No way!" Yukio exclaimed in surprise, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I told you; all the test proctors were talking about it before we got on the boat," Hideo asserted. More and more students began to join the conversation, pooling together their knowledge on the elusive raven. On the other side of the ship, the topic of the teens' gossip listened to their words and took them all in with a slight grin. He didn't care if they talked about him or not. He didn't come to Duel academy to impress them or anyone else.

Sota heard a soft, shy voice call out to him. "Excuse me, but are you Higurashi-san?"

He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a trio of girls standing next him. They were all dressed in the female uniform for the Obelisk Blue dorms and fairly cute.

"I am," he answered politely as he turned to look at them, "What do you want?"

"We were just talking about you," a petite blonde answered with a slight giggle.

"Is that so?" Sota replied, flashing them a slight grin.

"We heard a lot of good things about you from the other transfers," she continued, "And we wanted to introduce ourselves." The blonde girl, obviously the leader of the trio, introduced herself as Rina. The other two girls at her side were Tsukiyo and Satoko.

"It's nice to meet you," Sota responded, "I hope we get along well at the academy." The girls flushed slightly at his gentlemanly attitude; Sota was much more mature than the other boys on the ship and quite handsome. As the trio continued to speak with Sota, Satoko was drawn to the round, clear gem around his neck resting gently against his collar bone.

"That's such a pretty necklace!" Satoko exclaimed.

"You like it?" Sota asked as he looked down at the jewel around his neck. Satoko nodded enthusiastically.

"Did your mom give it to you?" Rina asked him pointedly, "Or maybe it's from a girlfriend?"

Sota shook his. "This jewel belonged to my older sister."

"She just gave it to you?" Satoko asked in amazement.

"She must really miss you while you're at the academy," Tsukiyo commented.

Sota smiled bitterly and reached up to gingerly finger the translucent jewel. The three girls stilled as they noticed Sota's entire demeanor change.

"I'm not so sure about that," Sota answered, "but I do keep this to remember her by. I'm afraid that my sister is no longer with us."

"Oh," Rina stated sadly before giving him a short, respectful bow. The other two girls quickly followed her lead. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"And I'm sorry for bringing it up," Tsukiyo added sheepishly.

"It's alright," Sota said with a reassuring smile, "You didn't know. Besides, it's not all sad." He gripped the gem tightly in his fist. "I always feel her spirit with me especially when I duel."

"You really loved her," Satoko commented and smiled sweetly at Sota, "I bet she'd be really proud of you."

"I still do," he replied, "and I hope she is."

The girls stayed and continued talking with Sota until the vessel's captain announced that they would be arriving at the academy soon. As soon as Rina, Satoko, and Tsukiyo told him goodbye and walked away, Sota turned back to the window and watched the island come into view. He absently placed a protective hand over his deck box.

'I swear I will return you to this world and undo all your suffering. No matter what the cost.'

-O0o0O-

"Today's the big day!" Yuki Judai exclaimed as he joined his friends at their usual dinner table.

"What are you so excited about, dropout?" Manjoume Jun asked the ecstatic Osiris.

"The new transfers are coming tonight!" Judai replied happily, "Our Slifer family keeps on growing and growing!"

"As if any of them are gonna stay here," Marufuji Sho said glumly, "They'll just move up after dorm switch exams."

Jun scoffed and began eating his food. He wasn't about to starve just because a boatload of Osiris dropouts was running late. "As if anyone wants to stay a Slifer Red."

"I resent that!" Maeda Hayato countered from his place at the end of the table.

"Don't be such downers, guys! We Reds are the best!" Judai cried. The group continued eating their dinner until Professor Daitokuji came into the dining hall with his large feline, Pharaoh, tucked away his arms and stood at the head of the room.

"What's up, Daitokuji-sensei?" Judai greeted him.

"Hello, Judai-san," Daitokuji replied with a grin, "Make sure you save some food for our new transfer students. We have quite a large number coming in from the ship."

"So they're here?" Judai exclaimed and abruptly stood from his seat, "Let's go meet them at the docks."

"No thanks," Jun stated as he lifted his tray and threw it away. He quickly returned to his room for the night. Hayato followed his lead, saying he wanted to get to bed early.

"Are you still gonna join me?" Judai asked his blue haired friend.

"Sure," Sho replied with a nod. The two teens followed Daitokuji to the docks; it seemed they were the only students eager to meet their new classmates. When they reached their destination, all of the other school officials were out to meet the new academy students, the school's chancellor, Samejima, included. Even the head professor, Cronos de Medici, was in attendance, although he didn't seem too willing to be there.

Cronos groaned when the boat finally came into view. There was really no reason for him to be here, and he had much better things to do. All of the female students joining the illustrious ranks of Obelisk Blue would be taken care of by Ayukawa Emi. The boys were destined for Slifer Red.

'The last thing we need is more dropout boys,' he thought.

The ship docked and the students unloaded the vessel. They had already changed in their uniforms and were carrying their all belongings.

"Welcome to Duel Academy!" Samejima greeted the transfer students before he sprouted a condensed version of his usual welcoming speech and introduced the students to the faculty members in attendance. All of them listened attentively but were anxious to get to their new dorm rooms.

"Girls, please follow Ayukawa-sensei," Samejima instructed at the close of his speech, "and, boys, go with Daitokuji-sensei."

Once the meeting came to a close, Cronos prepared to leave when a raven haired boy brushed against him. He scowled at the new addition to Osiris; he won't hesitate to put him in line.

"Watch where you're going!" he shouted indignantly. Cronos was surprised when the boy turned to him and bowed apologetically.

"I'm very sorry, Cronos-sensei," he amended as he stood to his full height. A look of admiration was etched on his features. "I'm so excited to see you, one of the greatest professional duelists and my professor, and I let my enthusiasm get the better of me."

"Grazie!" Cronos replied graciously, a complete change from his previous tone. The boy may be a Slifer Red, but Cronos was never one to deny a compliment. "So you've heard of me?"

"It's an ignorant duelist who hasn't, Cronos-sensei," the raven boy commented and Cronos beamed.

"And who are you, young scholar?" he asked the boy.

"Higurashi Sota," the raven answered.

Cronos remembered that name amongst the list of transfer students Samejima presented them. He was a skillful duelist and the Domino City tournament champion. His acceptance to Duel Academy was based on his dueling skills not his written exam scores like the others. However, there was no doubt his test grade reflected his superb skills.

'He's far too good to be wasted in Slifer Red!' Cronos thought.

"Why don't you come with me to see the Obelisk Blue dorms?" Cronos offered, "You won't be in Slifer Red for long."

Samejima overheard the exchange and was in shock. "Cronos-sensei, this is unlike you."

"I'm merely introducing the boy to his future classmates," Cronos explained, "You don't have a problem with it do you, Chancellor?"

"As long as he's back before curfew, I don't object," Samejima replied with a grin. Cronos was actually being civil with a non-Obelisk blue student, and he was not about to look this gift horse in the mouth. "He should still have the chance to meet his peers in Slifer Red as well." He turned to Sota. "Would you like to go with Cronos-sensei?"

The raven eagerly nodded, wearing a wide grin. "I would be honored."

Forgetting the other new arrivals, Cronos led Sota toward the Obelisk Blue dorms, amiably chatting with him the entire trip.

-O0o0O-

"What's Cronos-sensei doing with a transfer student?" Sho asked as he and Judai watched the professor pull the boy away from the other males, "All male students are in Slifer Red, right?"

"They are," Judai answered, "but I bet that guy really impressed him!" He looked around and spotted a group of male students headed to Slifer Red dorm following Daitokuji.

"Hey!" Judai called out to them, "What do you know about that guy?" He jerked his thumb in the direction of Cronos and the male transfer student.

"Oh, Higurashi-san?" a bespectacled student answered, "He's the winner of the Domino City regional tournament, and he got a perfect score on the entrance exam."

Judai whistled lowly, clearly impressed. "Wow! Those are some pretty heavy stats for a Slifer Red."

Just as Judai started walking away with Sho in tow, the faint wispy form of Winged Kuriboh appeared from his deck, flattering around his head.

"What is the, Kuriboh?" Judai asked the duel spirit. The creature mewed excitedly before pointing one of his stubby green limbs in the direction Higurashi headed in. Judai looked and saw two transport forms floating at his side.

"Oh, I see now," Judai exclaimed, "Those are duel spirits!" He couldn't make out their exact forms from this distance, but that didn't stop him from stopping and calling out to them and the duelist they shadowed. Winged Kuriboh mewed softly at his card holder, shaking his head at his boorish behavior before disappearing.

"Hey! Over here!" Judai yelled, waving his arms about wildly. Everyone else left the docks; only he and Sho remained. Sho sighed as Judai continued shouting to gain Higurashi's attention, but it didn't stop him in his trek to the Obelisk Blue dorms with Cronos.

"Aniki, please!" Sho beseeched him, "We're left behind!"

Judai paused and looked around, seeing that they were indeed alone. He turned to his short friend and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "My bad, Sy!"

"What were you trying to do?" Sho asked curiously. He and Judai started walking back to their dorm.

"Didn't you hear me?" Judai answered, "Higurashi has a few duel spirits! I was trying to get their attention, but I don't think they heard me."

"Are you sure?" Sho asked skeptically.

"Of course I am!" Judai replied, "Why else wouldn't they answer me?"

Sho groaned and tiredly placed his head in his hands. "That's not what I meant."

-Oo0oO-

"Here we are!" Cronos announced as he stepped inside the large dining hall shared by male and female Obelisk Blue students with Sota at his side. Ayukawa blinked owlishly at the sight of Cronos with the raven haired boy wearing the Slifer Red jacket.

"Cronos-sensei," she greeted him hesitantly, "What a surprise."

"Hello, Ayukawa-san," Cronos replied, placing his hand proudly on Sota's shoulder, "I'd like for you to meet this brilliant student!"

Tenjouin Asuka, Queen of Obelisk Blue, curiously watched her professors interact with the student a few meters away. Her close friend and companion, Marufuji Ryo, stood at her side observing them as well.

"What's Cronos-sensei doing with a Slifer Red?" she asked incredulously.

"He must be a transfer," Ryo said. He never noticed the boy before not that he paid much attention to many Osiris students.

"Still," Asuka remarked, "he's never been one to mingle with them willingly."

A group of girls standing near the two overheard their conversation and immediately recognized its subject. They introduced themselves to the Obelisk students as Rina, Tsukiyo, and Satoko.

"That's Higurashi Sota-san!" Rina exclaimed. Asuka and Ryo turned to the blonde and her two friends. Asuka noticed the adoring stares they sent Sota's way.

"What's so special about him?" Asuka asked them.

"He won first place at the regional tournament in Domino City," Rina answered, "And he scored perfectly on the entrance exam." Her friends nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Sounds pretty impressive," Ryo commented.

"But there's more to him than that," Tsukiyo stated, sighing dreamily, "He's an honorable duelist. He duels in memory of his older sister."

"His older sister?" Asuka questioned, "What happened to her?" She had fond memories of her older brother, Fubuki, and continued to investigate his disappearance. An issue with an older sibling like that was something she could readily identify with.

"He didn't really explain what happened to her," Satoko replied, "but he said she was no longer part of this world. So I guess she's…"

"Do you see that pendant around his neck?" Rina asked after her friend trailed off her sentence, "It belonged to her."

"I see," Asuka commented. She wasted no time as she approached Cronos and Sota, who was clearly being ignored by her fellow dorm mates.

"Tenjouin Asuka-san!" Cronos exclaimed once she was close enough and nudged Sota in her direction, "This is Higurashi Sota-san, a soon-to-be Obelisk Blue student."

"Nice to meet you," Asuka welcomed him with a polite bow, "I've already heard a lot about you, Higurashi-san." Sota chuckled and quickly returned her welcoming gesture.

"All good things I hope," he said as he stood up.

"Of course," Asuka replied, "You've made a really good impression." Her eyes immediately found the round, clear marble-like stone around Sota's neck. It was very pretty and clearly a girl's trinket. Sota noticed her stares and began protectively fingering the gem between his thumb and forefinger, giving her a cold look. Asuka instinctively stepped back at the change in his demeanor.

"Cronos-sensei?" Sota addressed the professor.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Thank you for taking the time to show me around the Obelisk Blue dorms," he said with a polite bow, "I really appreciate it."

"Nessun problema!" Cronos stated, waving the gesture off, "Think nothing of it, young scholar."

"I should head back to the Red dorms now," Sota said, "I'll see you in class, Cronos-sensei and Tenjouin-san." He began walking to the exit and left the dining hall. Once the Slifer was gone, the atmosphere lightened considerably and the Obelisk students began to mingle with each other once more. Ryo approached Asuka as she stood in the same spot and watched Sota leave.

"Are you that interested in a transfer student?" he asked her. Asuka sighed dejectedly and shook her head.

"I think I may have upset him," Asuka sullenly admitted, "He caught me staring at his necklace and left. His sister must have really…" She trailed off, not able to finish her sentence. While she still held onto hope that Fubuki was still alive, Sota had none at all regarding his own sibling. He knew exactly what happened to her, and Asuka felt ashamed for bringing up such obviously bad memories.

"You'll have your chance to apologize," Ryo assured her, "If he's as good a duelist as I've heard, Yuki-san will be acquainted with him very soon."

Asuka smiled halfheartedly. "I suppose you're right."

-O0o0O-

"Aniki!" Sho cried, looking at his hyper friend with an exasperated look from his spot on his bunk, "We gotta go to bed!" It was nearly midnight and the Slifer still hadn't calmed down from his earlier excitement. While the new Slifer students ate their dinner, Judai eagerly waited for the much talked about transfer student to appear although he had already eaten his meal. He excitedly watched the door for Sota's arrival. Much to Judai's dismay, he arrived at the mess hall only to get his room assignment from Daitokuji before he turned in for the night.

"I can't right now!" Judai replied happily, "I'm just so pumped!" After his departure to the Obelisk dorms, everyone talked about Sota, singing praises of the young duelist. He couldn't wait to duel him!

Hayato groaned and rolled over so he faced the wall, hoping to block out Judai's voice. "You can meet the new kid in the morning. He isn't going anywhere."

Judai pouted; clearly his friends didn't share his enthusiasm. He stood to his feet and headed for the door. If Hayato and Sho wanted to go to bed that badly, he wouldn't keep them up any longer. "I'll be back, guys. I'm gonna see if I can jog the adrenaline off."

"Run if you have to," Hayato muttered and snuggled deeper in his sheets. Sho did the same before mumbling for Judai to be careful. Judai grinned in their direction before he opened the door and exited his room.

'Now where to?' he thought absently. He didn't want a run-in with campus security, so he decided he would stick around the Red dorms. Judai started heading toward the balcony closest to the cliff overlooking the sea; it was one of the best places on the island to look at the ocean. Just before he reached his favorite spot, Judai come to a complete stop. It was already occupied.

A girl was standing in front of Judai leaning on the railing and looking out the ocean. She wore a green and white school uniform with calf length white socks and brown loafers. Her soft raven locks fluttered in the gentle breeze, and the pale light of the full moon gave her an ethereal look.

'She's so cute!' Judai thought even though he couldn't see the girl's face, 'But I've never seen her around before.' She was around the same height as Asuka, so she could have been a freshman like him and around his age.

'She could be one of the transfers,' Judai mused, 'but why would she be at the Red dorms this late at night?' Seeing as his thoughts weren't giving him any answers, Judai decided to ask the girl herself. With his customary energetic attitude and friendly grin, Judai walked toward the girl until he stood to her right. When he looked at her face, he saw her eyes closed and her lips pulled into a serene smile. She was so enthralled by the view of the ocean and feel of the sea air that she didn't even notice his arrival. Judai grinned; she was cute from this angle too!

"It's a great view up here, isn't it?" Judai mentioned. The girl's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice, and she turned to him with frightened blue eyes. Slowly, she inched away from him and backed up against the railing, gripping it tightly.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you!" Judai insisted, trying to calm her down, "I just wanted to introduce myself." He smiled welcomingly in her direction, hoping that she would understand he meant her no harm. The girl relaxed and loosened her grip on the rail, but she didn't seem less upset and continued eyeing Judai curiously.

"My name's Judai," he introduced himself, "What's yours?"

The girl remained silent and shyly looked away from him to the sea once more.

"Come on," Judai urged her with a smile, "You can tell me your name, right? How are we gonna be friends if I don't know your name?"

At the end of his sentence, the girl looked sharply at Judai with shocked gaze. Judai was confused; it seemed like this was the first time in a long time that she heard anyone tell her kind words.

"Are you alright?" Judai couldn't stop himself from asking. He didn't like seeing others sad or upset, and the girl in front of him was no exception. He reached for her, but, just before he came he could touch her hand, her image flickered before it disappeared completely.

"What?" Judai whispered curiously as he slowly pulled his hand back, "She's a ghost?" He heard a familiar cooing sound before Winged Kuriboh emerged and appeared at his side.

"What's up, Kuriboh?" Judai greeted the duel spirit warmly as he petted his brown fur. Kuriboh playfully circled Judai's head before gesturing to the spot the mysterious girl previously occupied.

"That girl," Judai stated and Kuriboh rapidly nodded his furry head.

"Kuri, kuri!" he squeaked excitedly.

"So she's not a ghost?" Judai asked and came to a quick conclusion, "In that case, she must be a duel spirit!" Kuriboh closed his bright yellow eyes and nodded, happy that his card holder came to the right conclusion.

Judai never saw the petite, humanoid monster played at any school duels; he was sure he—and Sho and Hayato—would remember seeing a Duel Monster that cute on the field.

"She must belong to one of the transfer students," Judai thought aloud. Then he remembered seeing the transparent figures shadowing Sota when he left with Cronos. He couldn't make out their forms before, but Kuriboh did indicate they were the boy's duel spirits.

"Could she be in Higurashi's deck?" Judai grinned and held his fist high above his head. "Now I want to duel him even more!"

Judai jumped when a loud pounding noise erupted against of the dormitory doors followed by an angry shout. "Keep it down out there, dropout!"

Judai grinned at the doorway before he returned to his room for the night. "Sure thing, Manjoume!"

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – That's a wrap, people! I hope you enjoyed it for there is more to come. L83R! XD

(edited 05.19.2012)


	2. Chapter 2

punkish furball – Hello, all! XD

**Words to Ponder:**

I hope you enjoy what I wrote thus far. As always, I would appreciate any and all feedback you have. Any on how I portray the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters would be most appreciated.

As you may or may not now, I had a poll posted in my profile regarding the revision process of my earlier works. There is now a run-off poll between the choices voted into the top three. If you haven't voted already, please do so. I'd appreciate it! XD

Thank you for reviewing: kenzkitty, Suzume Batchii Taichi, AnimeFreakAmanda, kakashixangela, Dark Void Princess 21, pokemonmangafreak, moi-moi819, Bunny.W.K, The Kumiko, Sin of the Fallen, Kagome Miko207, and Applejax XD! ^.^

Thanks to everyone who alerted and favorite-d this story. But my reviewers, you guys are special. Each update is dedicated especially to you! XD

Fun Fact: Chumley's, known as Hayato in the original Japanese version of the anime, muscle tone was removed in the English dub. He also does not like grilled cheese as much if at all. As for why this was changed, that's 4kids for you. :P

**Chapter 2**

Kagome abruptly departed from the balcony and reappeared in the small dorm room with a hand pressed against her rapidly beating heart—or at least the organ would be beating if she had a physical body. Once she was calm, she slowly moved her hand to her side and let out a deep, calming breath. Her mind was racing from her sudden encounter with the brunet student just moments before. It was her first instance of actual human contact she experienced with someone other than younger brother for some time.

'Judai-san,' she recalled, 'He said his name is Judai-san.'

Kagome pursed her lips together in thought. 'Why could he see me? Was it just a fluke, or did he know what I really am?' When Judai spoke to her, it didn't seem like he realized she didn't have a physical form until she vanished. And, because she departed so suddenly, she did not see his reaction after she disappeared. For all she knew, he could have thought he just imagined her and disregarded her appearance all together by now.

'Just who is that boy?' Kagome wondered and looked the curtain covered window next to the door. She slowly inched towards it. 'One look won't hurt. Just to see if he's still there.'

Without warning, Kagome halted when she heard a mellow, teasing voice speaking behind her. "You snuck out again, Kagome-sama."

Kagome jumped in the air and turned to face her addresser. She glared at the monk clothed in purple and black robes standing in front of her wearing a mischievous grin.

"You scared me! Did you really have to do that?" she asked accusingly.

"Well?" Miroku urged her, ignoring her question, "Did anything happen during your midnight excursion?"

"Nothing," Kagome replied sheepishly and began nervously twisting her skirt in her hands. Miroku frowned; she looked far too guilty for Miroku's liking.

"And what exactly was this nothing that made you react this way?" Miroku asked suspiciously. Kagome sighed; there was no hiding anything from him. She had to tell him before he found out about Judai on his own.

'If that boy really spotted me, it's only a matter of time before he sees Miroku-san,' Kagome thought.

"I was standing on the balcony, and someone saw me," she quietly admitted.

Miroku's eyes widened considerably. He wasn't expecting to hear that. "Are you certain that is the case? Perhaps this person was merely looking through you; it has happened before. Don't jump to conclusions." Kagome vigorously shook her head.

"It wasn't like that, Miroku-san. He reached out to me," Kagome insisted, her fists curling at her sides, "And he spoke to me."

"Did he now?" Miroku questioned, astonished, "This is an interesting development. If we're not careful, it could mean trouble." He looked to Sota as he rested on the bottom bunk of the three stacked beds. "Shall we tell Sota-san about it?"

"No way," Kagome replied with a firm shake of her head, "He needs to concentrate on more important things than this right now. Just leave this to me; there's no need to get him or the others involved."

Miroku sighed; he personally knew just how persistent the girl in front of him was. There was no dissuading her from her decision now that she made it perfectly clear.

"I suppose you're right; he doesn't need to know just yet." Miroku stepped forward placed a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. "But we need to be more careful when we appear in case others at this academy share that boy's ability. You can handle this issue, but don't intentionally seek him out. I believe it would be best to we keep ourselves hidden."

Kagome looked like she was about to argue but quickly relented; Miroku did have a point. "Alright. I promise I won't."

Miroku grinned and playfully patted Kagome's raven head. "That's my good girl!"

Kagome groaned and butted Miroku's hand away with her head. "I am not an animal!"

"You could have fooled me," Miroku replied innocently, "You certainly hiss like a feline when you're provoked." He ducked when she threw a punch with her transparent fist.

"Nice, kitty!" Miroku teased her while dodging her blows.

"I'll show you a kitty!" Kagome growled.

The sound of amused chuckles caused the two to jump apart. They looked and saw Sota's smiling face as he sat up in his bed.

"You two still up?" he asked them jokingly.

"I'm sorry," Kagome amended, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck, "Were we being too loud?"

"I didn't hear a thing," Sota replied with a shrug of his shoulders, "I have big plans for tomorrow as you should already know. I was feeling a little restless and wasn't sleeping well to begin with."

"What?" Kagome questioned quietly, "You're going to start so soon?"

Miroku nodded in agreement. "Kagome-sama has a point. We arrived here only hours ago. Shouldn't we lay low for a while before we make such a big move?"

Sota shook his head. "I don't think so; we should get started as soon as possible. To get what I want, I need to gain the faculty's and the students' favor. Cronos-sensei is already taken with me, and my test scores are still fresh on everyone's mind. Now is the best time to act."

"I suppose it's a logical choice when you put it that way," Miroku commented.

"I'm going to need your logic when I speak with the chancellor in the morning," Sota replied with a grin, "I don't think he'll be as easy to win over as Cronos-sensei." He chuckled. "I have to admit that he wasn't that much of a challenge for you."

"You don't have anything to worry about. Miroku-san is a master manipulator," Kagome mentioned with a slight giggle, "As long as you follow his advice, we'll have nothing to worry about."

"Kagome-sama!" Miroku exclaimed with a dramatic gasp and a hand over his heart, "I would never stoop so low as to intentionally deceive others! What I exhibit are merely skills I needed to develop for my survival."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sure. Everyone knows that being a con artist is the first subject covered in Survival 101."

"You speak as though you haven't picked up skills from me over during this ordeal," Miroku remarked with a pout, "I'd say that by now you're my loyal and willing disciple."

"The only things I can learn from you are smooth talking and perverseness," Kagome answered with a snort.

"Okay, you guys," Sota scolded the two spectral forms, "Quiet down and get some rest for tomorrow." He jerked his thumb to the two bunks on top of his. "My roommates may be knocked out for the night, but, if they decide to wake up anytime soon, I'd rather not look like I'm talking to myself."

"Of course," Miroku replied with a low, respectful bow. It was easy to tell from the playful tone in his voice that he was only teasing.

"Shall we depart then, my dear lady?" he asked Kagome courteously, offering her his palm, "Lest we tarnish our honorable duelist's reputation."

"You go ahead," Kagome answered with a smile, "I'll be right behind you in a minute." Miroku nodded before his form disappeared, leaving the two siblings alone.

"You should get some rest too," Kagome told to her younger brother, "You obviously have a lot planned for the next few days. Don't wear yourself out so soon."

Sota smiled bitterly. "You're in no position to worry about me anymore. I'm taking care of you now, Nee-chan."

Kagome gave a bittersweet grin of her own in return. "You are, aren't you? I don't know where we'd all be without you."

"I'm here now, so you don't need to worry about anything like that ever again," Sota stated sternly, his face hardening and his lips tightening in a thin line. Kagome flinched; she didn't like seeing such an expression on her sweet, younger brother's face. He wasn't the cute little boy who'd climbed into her bed at night asking her to chase the nightmares away anymore.

"You're right," she remarked somberly, and Sota smiled once more.

"Now get some rest, Nee-chan," he told her gently, "I need you at peak performance."

"I know," Kagome stated wistfully, "Goodnight, Sota."

"Night."

When Kagome disappeared just like Miroku before her, Sota lied back down on his bed with his hands folded behind his head. It didn't take long for him to succumb to slumber once more.

-O0o0O-

"I'm telling you," Judai firmly insisted, "I really did see a duel spirit last night." He was seated at his usual table in the mess hall next to Hayato and Sho having breakfast. Jun was sitting at the opposite end, trying to ignore them.

"Come on, Judai-kun," Hayato replied, "I think we'd remember seeing a card like that before."

"You were probably tired and imaging things," Sho suggested.

Hayato snorted before taking another bite of his omelet. "Judai-kun tired? Not likely."

"But I saw her!" Judai claimed, "So did Winged Kuriboh." Despite the added testimony of the furry duel monster, Hayato and Sho didn't seem more convinced than before. Judai frowned. He thought Hayato would believe him; Judai suspected he also could see duel spirits. He continued pouting for a few seconds before his expression brightened considerably.

"Hey, Manjoume!" he called down the length of the table.

"It's 'Manjoume-san'!" Jun answered without looking at him, "What is it now, dropout?"

"I saw a duel spirit last night after the transfers showed up. Did you notice any hanging around the dorms?" he asked. Jun huffed and turned away, but Judai wasn't deterred.

"She's really pretty with long black hair and big, bright blue eyes," Judai continued enthusiastically as he pictured the petite duel monster in his mind's eye, "And she wore a school uniform, a white top with a red tie around the collar and a green miniskirt." Jun turned and stared at Judai incredulously.

"Are you sure you weren't just having wet dream?" he asked dryly before finishing his breakfast.

"Manjoume-san!" Sho shouted, his cheeks ablaze, "That's totally inappropriate!" The black Slifer ignored the reprimand.

Hayato shrugged. "Sounds like it was some dream."

"Not you too, Hayato-kun!" Sho exclaimed, growing redder in the face.

The conversation between the four students ceased when Sota passed by their table, walking to the trash can with his tray in his hands. Judai grinned when he caught sight of the raven duelist.

"Hey, Higurashi!" he shouted to gain his attention, "Over here!"

"Judai-kun!" Sho reprimanded, "Don't be so rude!"

Sota paused for a brief moment without turning around. "I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now. I'm in a hurry." He dumped the contents of his tray in the garbage can before exiting the dining hall.

"He's not much of a people person," Hayato commented.

"I wonder what's up with him," Sho thought aloud.

"Well, let's go after him and find out!" Judai suggested.

"Aniki, wait!" Sho shouted, but the Slifer already shot out of his seat, leaving his tray on the table. Before leaving the small dining hall, he reached over and grabbed Jun by the collar of his black jacket, tugging him along behind him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jun shouted indignantly, trying to squirm out of Judai's hold.

"I'm making sure you don't fall behind!" Judai answered, giving Jun's collar another playful pull. He turned to Hayato and Sho, who remained seated at the lunch table. "Come on, guys! I can't drag you all with me!" The two teens sighed before dumping theirs, Judai's, and Jun's trays and following their friend outside.

"But I don't want to go with you losers!" Jun protested.

"Sure you do!" Judai responded with a large grin, "I know you want to see Higurashi's duel spirits just as much as we do."

"I do not!"

-O0o0O-

Sota confidently walked down the halls of Duel Academy to his destination, Cronos's office. The eccentric professor pointed it out to him the other night when he showed Sota around the academy. Sota knew he'd be there before class started, preparing his notes. When he reached the door, he knocked twice.

"Come in," Cronos stated curtly. Sota opened the door and confidently walked inside.

"Buongiorno, Sota-san!" Cronos greeted him amiably when he looked up from his desk, "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Cronos-sensei," Sota replied with a short bow, "I wanted to speak with you before class. I hope I'm not interrupting; I'm certain you're very busy."

"Nonsense!" he responded with a slight wave of his hand, "I'm always available for students who need me. What do you need?"

"I have a few questions for you, sensei," Sota answered after taking a seat in front of Cronos's desk, "I heard about one of this year's freshmen students who also scored exceptionally well on the written entrance exam like I did."

"Yes," Cronos replied with a nod of his head, "His name is Misawa Daichi-san, a Ra Yellow student."

"Do you think it would be possible for a duel to be arranged between me and him?" Sota asked.

"A duel?" Cronos repeated curiously.

"Yes," Sota stated, "I understand that dorm switch exams are scheduled later in the semester. I only wanted to suggest a friendly duel between us with no strings attached." He smiled knowingly. "I'm sure it'll be an event the entire academy will enjoy watching."

"That's certainly an idea," Cronos said thoughtfully, "We'll have to run it by Samejima-sensei first. Once we get his approval, leave filling out the duel request forms to me."

"Do you mind if we ask him right now?" Sota chuckled as the puzzled look on Cronos's face. "Pardon my enthusiasm, but I'd like to get this underway as soon as possible."

"Of course! The sooner we get this out of the way, the better." Cronos quickly stood from his seat and walked out of his office with Sota following closely behind him. It didn't take long before they reached Samejima's office. Cronos and Sota entered the room without knocking.

"Cronos-sensei," Samejima addressed the instructor after his impromptu intrusion in his office. He quickly noticed the student behind him wearing the Slifer Red jacket. "Don't tell me you're disciplining students before your lecture starts?"

"Of course not!" Cronos exclaimed and stepped aside to reveal Sota, "This bright, young scholar just so happens to have a novel idea I thought you'd like to hear."

"Is that so?" Samejima questioned. He was understandably skeptical upon seeing Cronos with a Slifer, but he remembered Sota from the night before. He treated him cordially before, and there wasn't any reason to believe Cronos was there to issue a punishment.

"Certainly!" Cronos replied, "Sota-san, if you would please explain?"

"Hello, Chancellor," Sota greeted, "I wanted to know if there could be a school duel arranged between myself and Misawa Daichi-san, the top scorer of this year's incoming freshmen."

"A school duel?" Samejima asked, "Whatever for?"

Sota grinned. "Only friendly competition between peers. I think it would be interesting to see how the two of us rank against each other considering our test scores."

"That would be an interesting match to see," Samejima conceded, "Cronos-sensei, ask Daichi-san if he will agree to the duel and have Sota-san fill out the appropriate paperwork to turn into my office. If all goes well, the duel could be scheduled as early as tomorrow."

"Naturalmente, signore!" Cronos replied, beaming proudly at the new addition to the academy.

Sota bowed low at his waist. "Thank you for this opportunity, Samejima-sensei. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Samejima replied with a smile, "Now you two get to class; the lecture's already a few minutes late."

"Sì, signore! Right away," Cronos said before taking his leave. Sota bowed at Samejima and left, wearing a confident smirk.

'I suspected he'd agree, but I didn't think it would be that easy,' the Slifer thought, his grin growing, 'Everything should go according to plan after Misawa agrees to the duel.' He placed a hand on his deck box attached to his belt. 'After that, all I have to do is pick the right cards to use. Misawa won't know what he's gotten into once he stands up against me.'

-O0o0O-

"Judai-kun," Hayato called out to the wayward Osiris. Judai stopped and turned back at him and Sho, releasing Jun's collar as soon as he did.

"What's up?" he asked him nonchalantly.

"We're not going to find Higurashi-san at his rate," Hayato stated.

Sho nodded in agreement. "We'll see him after class, and you can talk to him then."

"I guess," Judai relented and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Looks like we're going to be late for class again."

"I wouldn't be late if you didn't drag me on this wild goose chase!" Jun shouted angrily. He turned and walked down the hallway to the lecture hall.

"Wait up, Manjoume!" Judai called out and followed behind his peer. Sho followed him while Hayato walked in the opposite direction to his own class. The Slifer trio quickly arrived to the lecture hall, hoping Cronos wouldn't give them a hard time for being tardy. After looking around, they immediately noticed Cronos was not at the front of the class as he should have been.

Judai laughed and threw his fists high in the air in victory. "Looks like we're off the hook!"

"Not likely, dropout boy!" Cronos shouted as he arrived in the classroom behind Judai, bopping him on the head, "Kindly take your seat so we can begin!" He walked to the front and took his usual spot. Sota entered after him and grabbed an empty seat on the front row in the Slifer Red section. The other Slifers—Judai in particular—rushed to get a seat next to him, but there were no other empty seats in the area.

"Sorry for the delay, students," Cronos stated, "Something very interesting has been put into motion but a little more on that later. Let's begin today's lecture. To recap from our previous discussion on trap cards, would anyone like to tell me what they are and explain all of the different types?" Cronos pointed to Sota. "Why don't we give one of our transfer students a shot? If you would, Sota-san?"

Sota stood out of his seat and faced Cronos, speaking in a loud, clear voice. "Trap cards are cards that have various effects which make it difficult for your opponent or easier for you in a duel. A trap card must be set face down on the field and can only be activated after the turn it was set has finished. After that, it may be activated during either player's turn. Trap cards can also be chained to the effects of spell cards, other trap cards, or effect monsters." He took a deep breath before continuing. "There are three types of trap cards: normal, continuous, and counter. Normal trap cards are spell speed two. They can be activated during either player's turn as long as it wasn't set that turn. Different normal trap cards have a wide variety of effects. Continuous trap cards are also spell speed two. Their effect stays in play until the card is destroyed. Counter trap cards have a spell speed of three and are used to counter the effects of your opponent's cards. No cards or effects except other counter trap cards can be chained to a counter trap card."

'Would you look at that,' Judai thought as he watched Sota answer the question, 'One of his duel spirits came out.' It wasn't the pretty female monster he saw last night. It was a male dressed in purple and black robes. Every so often as Sota spoke, he leaned forwards and whispered in Sota's ear. Judai tried but couldn't hear what he was saying from his seat.

"Eccezionale!" Cronos exclaimed, "You will go far here, Sota-san." After giving Sota another congratulatory remark, Cronos continued with his lecture for the duration of the class period. When he dismissed the class for the day, he instructed Daichi and Sota to stay behind and speak with him. The Ra and Osiris obediently walked to the front of the class as everyone else left. Judai and Sho waited for them outside the classroom.

"I wonder what Cronos-sensei wants with those," Sho commented, "Do you think they're in trouble or something?"

Judai shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."

"Hey, you two!" Asuka said cheerfully as she walked out of the classroom and met up with the Slifers.

"Hey, Asuka!" Judai greeted her warmly, "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she replied with a grin and pointed the nearly emptied classroom, "Do you two know anything about that transfer student, Higurashi-san? Cronos-sensei was showing him around the Obelisk Blue dorms last night and brought him to the welcome dinner for all the new students."

"No," Sho answered, "Higurashi-san talked to anyone yet or at least not to anyone in the Red dorms."

"I see," Asuka remarked sadly, "He didn't talk to any of the Obelisk students either. The only person he seems to talk to is Cronos-sensei."

The group of three waited outside the classroom until Cronos, Daichi, and Sota walked out. Sota briskly walked passed them without saying a word. Cronos did the same, traveling in the opposite direction. Daichi remained with the trio.

"Hello, everyone," Daichi remarked with a grin and received several nods in greeting.

"So what did Cronos-sensei want, Daichi-kun?" Asuka asked the Ra Yellow.

"Apparently, Higurashi-san requested a duel with me," Daichi answered, "It'll take place tomorrow morning during our normal class period."

"It's his first day of classes, and he already requested a school duel?" Asuka questioned in surprise, "Higurashi-san certainly doesn't waste any time."

"Why did he want to duel you?" Sho asked.

Daichi shrugged his shoulders. "Higurashi-san said he thought it would be a fun duel to watch because we both received perfect scores on our entrance exam. Other than that, he didn't seem to have any other reasons or ulterior motives."

"Are you serious?" Judai exclaimed heatedly, "He wants to duel you over me? I would have been a much better opponent than you! He didn't even need to make a duel request to duel me!"

Daichi chuckled; he expected this kind of response from Judai. His classmate was always looking for an exciting duel with a new challenger. "Nonetheless, I will be his opponent."

Judai pouted, and his resolve to duel the transfer student grew.

"So which deck are you going to use?" Sho asked.

"I'll decide that once I devise my strategy." Daichi crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "I know nothing about Higurashi-san's deck or dueling techniques to factor into the selection process. Do you have any details about that?"

"Not really," Sho answered with a shake of his head, "Higurashi-san hasn't dueled or showed anyone his cards since got to the academy. All we know is that he won a regional tournament held in Domino City."

"And just because he's a Red doesn't mean you can count him out either!" Judai playfully added, "You better get your game on if you wanna win this duel!"

"Don't worry; I intend to," Daichi replied with grin, "After our duel, I know better than to underestimate any opponent."

"Good luck, Daichi-kun," Asuka stated encouragingly. A small splash of pink appeared on the tips of Daichi's ears at the small show of reassurance; it took a lot to impress the female duelist and gain her favor.

"Make sure it's a duel to remember!" Judai exclaimed happily, "If I can't be in the duel, it might as well be fun to watch!"

"I'm certain it will be."

-O0o0O-

Kagome sighed as she looked out the window of Sota's dorm room. The view inside wasn't nearly as good as the one on the balcony, but she couldn't risk sneaking out again with Sota awake. After his roommates went to bed for the night, Sota sat at his desk and went to work shuffling through his cards and constructing his deck under the dim light of his lamp. He wasn't paying much attention to her, but he would notice if she left.

'I hate being cooped up in here. Maybe I could go out for just a little while,' Kagome thought, peeking through the curtains, 'No one else is out there, and I won't be gone for long.'

Before Kagome could go outside on the balcony, she saw a familiar face appear around the corner of the building accompanied with two other Osiris students. She quickly stepped away from the window.

'That was Judai-san. What's he up to?' Kagome thought, 'He couldn't be looking for me, could he?' She returned to the window and peeked outside. Judai stood near the spot where he saw her, seemingly searching for something.

'He is looking for me,' she realized, 'Why?'

"What are doing?" Sota asked, turning to face her from his seat.

Kagome abruptly turned away from the window, trying not to look guilty. "Nothing! I was just looking at the view."

"You should quit stargazing and get some rest, Nee-chan," Sota suggested with a slight shake of his head, "Our big duel is tomorrow, and you need to be ready."

"You're putting me in your deck?" Kagome inquired.

"Of course," he answered with nod, "Misawa is a very strong duelist who relies on carefully thought out strategies and reading his opponent's every maneuver, countering each move almost perfectly. I've also heard he's got six decks, one for each attribute, and they're all on based on a different set of dueling tactics. He's a meticulous and extremely intelligent duelist, a more than worthy opponent. This duel will be very interesting."

"Sounds like he'll be a tough guy to beat," Kagome commented.

"That's why I need you and everyone else at their best," Sota replied, "If I build my deck properly to highlight everyone's strength and back up their weaknesses, we should be able to counter all of Misawa's maneuvers and win the duel."

"And after that?" Kagome questioned, "What will our next move be?"

"After this duel, we'll have to go under the radar for a while. No more dueling unless there's no other way around it. I have to focus on moving up the Duel Academy ranks and keeping my grades up. Only then will I obtain the top spot over all the students and keep it."

Kagome giggled. "That won't be a problem. You have me and Miroku-san to help with that." Sota grinned; he would have never scored perfectly on the entrance exam if he didn't have Kagome and Miroku looking over his shoulder and guiding him every step of the way. It wasn't that he didn't rely on his own intelligence, but he needed to more than above average test scores. He needed perfection, and Kagome and Miroku helped him achieve it.

Kagome yawned, stretching her arms high above her head. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought. I'm headed to bed. Don't stay up too late or you won't be able to focus during your duel."

"I won't be up for much longer," Sota assured her, "Now get some rest." He watched as Kagome faded from sight before returning to his work. He flipped through his cards he chose for his deck until he found the set of four he sought. He glared angrily at the images printed on each one. Although they would have seemed innocent to anyone else, Sota knew their truly malevolent nature and wouldn't be swayed by their trickery.

-O0o0O-

"Aniki, what are you doing?" Sho asked Judai as he looked around the balcony of the Slifer Red dorms, "Shouldn't we get back to our room?"

Judai shook his head. "I'm looking for that duel spirit. I can't find her."

"You really think she's out here again?" Sho questioned.

Judai shrugged his shoulders and continued to look for her. "I'm not sure, but she was here last night."

"Even if she exists, why would she come back?" Jun asked skeptically as he appeared behind the duo, impatiently tapping his foot.

Judai grinned and pointed to the expanse of sea ahead of them. "She liked the view of the ocean."

"Why are you here, Manjoume-san?" Sho questioned, "I thought you didn't believe Judai-kun."

"I don't," Jun grumbled, "You losers are blocking the door to my room!"

"Sorry about that, Manjoume," Judai amended and stepped aside so he could enter his room. Jun rolled his eyes before opening the door, not even bothering to correct Judai for addressing him without the honorific.

"Whatever," Jun stated with a frown, "Just keep it down out here while I'm trying to sleep." He walked inside his room and closed the door behind him.

"Maybe we should head to bed too," Sho suggested, "I don't think that duel monster is coming out tonight."

"You could be right," Judai replied dejectedly, "Higurashi does have that big duel with Daichi tomorrow. All of his monsters need to be ready if they're going to win." He immediately perked up and raised his fist high in the air. "Alright! I can't wait to see Higurashi in action!"

Sho woefully sighed. Hopefully his anticipation for the upcoming duel would be enough to get Judai to go to bed at a decent hour, and Sho could get finally get a full night of sleep tonight.

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – I hope you enjoyed~! ^.^ Watch out for the duel between Sota and Daichi in the next chapter. L83R DUD35! XD

(edited 06.22.2012)


	3. Chapter 3

punkish furball – Hello, all! X3

**Words to Ponder:**

Thank you for reviewing: Suzume Batchii Taichi, AnimeMoonlightGoddess, Purus Memoria, puripuribeth, Mimiru, AnimeGrl2519, Wicken25, Sin of the Fallen, kakashixangela, AnimeFreakAmanda, kits-hold-their-tears, Kagome Miko207, Nico1302, Bunny.W.K, Applejax XD, EveRose808, MyLovelyRabbit (2x), starmienight, JollyLoser (2x), falcon1loam, socrates, Fuundog, pokemondemon369, and Guest!

This chapter contains the long awaited duel between Sota and Daichi. A lot of research when into composing each player's decks and the match's gameplay; I hope I did a good job. The composition of Daichi's deck in this chapter is based on the one of the decks his character uses in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force video game. In this game, his character has six decks based on the different monster attributes.

At the end of this chapter, I've compiled a list of cards used by order of appearance. This includes the cards I created that are in Sota's deck. The list includes all of the card's information name, card type, effect, and other identifying information such as attack and defense points in the case of monster cards. Please note that some of the cards' effects may differ from their printed description because they have different effects in the anime or manga. All such cards are identified in this list. If you have any questions or corrections regarding the usage of any card as I have described it, **PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW** the card list before contacting me. I know that everyone isn't Duel Monster savvy (and believe me, after all the reading I had to do, I do not consider myself to be) and just wanted to make sure everything is as clear as possible so you can all enjoy the story as much as possible! XD

Fun Fact: In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, Daichi used a yokai based deck. Pretty interesting! XD

**Chapter 2**

Judai grinned as he shrugged his red blazer on over his long sleeved black shirt. Ahead of him, the time on the clock decorating his dorm wall read 7:30 AM. It was much earlier than Judai usually woke up, but today was the day for a very special event, an epic duel between Misawa and Higurashi. Although he would have preferred to be participating in this duel, Judai would settle for watching this match up.

'Just until it's my turn to face Higurashi in the ring! I'm definitely going to be his next opponent,' Judai thought before he turned to Sho and Hayato, who were still asleep in their bunks.

"Wake up!" he called out to them manically, "Come on, guys! You don't want to be late, do you?"

"Okay, Aniki!" Sho grumbled as he pushed back his covers and slowly sat up, "You don't have to be so loud."

"What are you doing up so early?" Hayato groaned; he rolled over on his side so that he faced the wall away from Judai.

"What do you mean? What are you two still doing in bed?" Judai asked them incredulously, "Today is the day! We need to go to the arena, and get a good seat for Higurashi's duel with Misawa!"

"Classes aren't even started yet!" Hayato complained, muffled by the sheets he pulled over his head, "Just gone on without us."

"We'll meet you in the arena after breakfast," Sho assured him after he fell back down on his pillow.

"Suit yourselves, guys. I'll save you some seats!" Judai stated with a nod before walking to the door and stepping outside. Just outside the door, the morning air was brisk and cool as the sun gradually rose over the horizon.

"Wow, a sunrise," Judai commented as he watched the skyline, "I guess I usually sleep through it." He grinned stupidly to himself. "That means I'll just catch up on my sleep during class!"

Without warning, Winged Kuriboh appeared from Judai's deck and flew away from his card holder around the corner of the building.

"Kuriboh?" Judai called out before following his duel monster. Just before he reached him, he heard Kuriboh cooing happily followed by a series of girlish giggles. Judai stopped and peeked around the corner to see his Winged Kuriboh being fawned over and petted by the female duel spirit he saw two nights ago, the one he wanted to see again. Judai smiled softly as she scratched the other duel spirit behind the wing and grinned happily when Kuriboh floated closer to her.

'She looks so happy with Kuriboh,' Judai thought, 'She must be really lonely here at the academy.'

Judai slowly walked toward the two duel spirits, so he wouldn't frighten the female one away again. Alerted by his arrival, Winged Kuriboh flew to Judai and sat on his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy," Judai greeted Kuriboh as he petted his furry head, "Looks like you made a new friend."

The other duel spirit turned to him and Winged Kuriboh, her gaze nervous and hesitant. However, she was not frightened like she was when she and Judai first met.

"Hello again," Judai told her with a grin, "I'm glad you met Kuriboh. I knew you two would like each other!" Kuriboh mewed in agreement.

Judai quietly waited for the duel spirit to respond, making sure that he didn't scare her away. After minutes of waiting, she didn't reply, but, at the same time, she didn't look like she would run away. That had to be a good sign.

'She must be warming up to me!' Judai thought happily.

"I wanted to tell you and Higurashi good luck today," Judai stated, "Misawa is one tough opponent, but I know you both can hold your own against him."

She smiled softly and nodded in Judai's direction before she spoke in a whisper so soft and small that he almost thought he imagined it.

"Thank you," she told him, "but I have to go now." Her form gradually faded before she disappeared from sight completely.

"Wow! Did you hear that, Kuriboh?" Judai exclaimed as he turned to face Kuriboh, who flew off Judai's shoulder and hovered in front of his face. "Can you believe she actually spoke to me? That means she's starting to like me, right, Kuriboh?

Kuriboh cooed happily in response to his card holder.

"All I need now is to know her name" Judai continued, "I hope Higurashi summons her today!"

Judai began sprinting excitedly toward the dueling arena, leaving Kuriboh to hover behind him. Winged Kuriboh sighed and tiredly rubbed his forehead with one of his stubby arms. He could sense something that was odd about the female duel spirit but decided to let Judai find out on his own. He knew that he would have more encounters with the female duel spirit with sad sapphire eyes and a haunting smile.

-O0o0O-

When Judai reached the arena, he quickly grabbed a seat on one of the front rows located right at the middle of the field so he could clearly see both sides. It was an easy task for him to accomplish; the chancellor didn't formally announce the start of the match yet so the large dueling arena was completely empty. After a few minutes of waiting and bouncing excitedly in his seat, Judai heard Samejima's voice over the school's intercom system.

"Attention, students and faculty, please report to the main dueling arena for a special event about to take place."

It wasn't long after the announcement before the academy students and faculty filed into the arena and filled the empty seats in their desired sections. Judai stood up in his seat and kept an eye out for Sho and Hayato. When he spotted them, he called them over to his row.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted them when they took their seats at his side, "I'm so hyped for this duel! Aren't you?"

"I guess," Sho replied, "but we seem to be the only ones."

Word had spread before Samejima's announcement about the duel, so most of the student body already knew it was between Misawa and Higurashi. From their constant chatter, the trio of Slifers could tell that everyone else thought that the Osiris Red didn't stand a chance against his Ra Yellow opponent, transfer student or not. They expected the match to end quickly and not in Higurashi's favor.

"It looks like we're the only ones rooting for that kid," Hayato commented, "I'm glad this isn't a popularity contest, or Higurashi would have already lost."

"That's alright," Judai stated with a grin, "They'll just be in for a real surprise once Higurashi shows them what he's made of!"

"I hope so," Sho mentioned, "It was really bold of him to request a duel with one of the academy's top students in you first week as a transfer."

"That kid better deliver," Hayato commented.

All of the boisterous prattle in the arena died down to a dull roar when Cronos stood on the dueling platform in the middle of the field, holding a microphone to his purple painted lips.

"Welcome, students and faculty!" Cronos loudly cried, "For your viewing pleasure, we have arranged a very interesting duel. Our first combatant is a first year Ra Yellow and the top scoring student of his year's incoming freshmen, Misawa Daichi!" He paused for the thunder of applause, praising the young duelist. "His opponent is first year Osiris Red transfer student who also received a perfect score on the academy's entrance exam, Higurashi Sota!"

Although the show of his support was not as loud as Daichi's accolades, Sota's fans in Slifer Red and Obelisk Blue cheered as enthusiastically as they could. When the small ovation settled, both duelists simultaneously approached the opposing ends of the field as Cronos stepped off the stage. Daichi and Sota got into position, staring each other down with great intensity as they activated their duel disks and drew their first hand.

"Would you like the first move?" Daichi politely offered his challenger.

"So you're offering me the first move," Sota observed as he slowly raised an apprehensive eyebrow, "Are you giving your opponent the opportunity to gain an early advantage, or are you giving yourself the opportunity to gather more data about me?"

"Are you being observant or paranoid?" Daichi countered with a slight smirk.

"We'll soon see," Sota replied, "I'll take you offer and have the first move." He drew an additional card and placed his cards on his duel disk. "I place two cards face down and summon Amazoness Fighter in attack mode."

Sota's monster appeared on his side of the field standing proudly in front of her card holder in all her muscled glory.

"Nice opening move," Hayato commented as he watched the young duelist, "Two face downs and an attack mode monster."

"I guess so," Sho added, "He must be trying to make Daichi movie in and attack him."

Daichi grinned as he took his turn and drew his next card. "I also play a card face down and summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode." His water-based dinosaur monster appeared on the field, breathing heavily from its nostrils as the constant currents of murky brown fluid that composed its body flowed.

"Now, Hydrogeddon, attack Amazoness Fighter!"

Sota watched uninterestedly as the creature attacked and destroyed his monster.

"Because of my monster's special ability," he stated after he placed his monster in the graveyard, "all of the damage caused by this battle becomes zero."

"Indeed, but my monster also has a special ability," Daichi countered, "Because Hydrogeddon successfully sent your Amazoness Fighter to the graveyard, I can special summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck." An identical monster appeared on Daichi's side of the field.

"I end my turn," Daichi announced and looked at Sota expectantly. Sota drew his next card and rearranged his cards in his hands.

"I summon Chiron the Mage in attack mode," Sota declared as he placed his card on the field, "Then I play the spell card, Pot of Greed."

Sota drew two cards and continued his turn. "Now, I active Chiron's special effect. By discarding one spell card from my hand, I can destroy one of your spell or trap cards on the field." He deposited a card in his graveyard, and his centaur monster waved his mighty staff, creating a red tinged aura on the field and destroying Daichi's face down card.

"Now, Chiron the Mage," Sota commanded, "attack one of Misawa's Hydrogeddons."

When the monster was successfully destroyed, Daichi lost 200 life points, dropping him to 3800. Sota's move surprised most of the academy students who did not expect Sota to be the first one to take the lead.

"So he's the one who made the first attack that cost his opponent some life points," Asuka commented from the spot she and Ryo watched the duel.

"It's only a small lead," Ryo countered, sounding unimpressed with Sota's performance thus far, "Misawa will recover."

"I don't doubt that," Asuka replied matter-of-factly, "but at least Higurashi-san is putting up a good fight and not letting what everyone else is saying about him affect his game."

Daichi took his turn and drew his next card.

"I play the field spell, Umiiruka," Daichi stated as he placed the card into his duel disk. A large mass of water covered the arena floor, creating the appearance of rushing waves along the length of the playing field. "Now, due to its magical effect, all water attribute monsters will gain 500 additional attack points but lose 400 defense points."

The remaining Hydrogeddon's attack and defense points changed to 2100 and 600, respectively, as it nearly doubled in size.

"Now, using the increase power of my Hydrogeddon, I attack your Chiron the Mage!"

Again, Sota was unmoving as his monster was destroyed and his life points dropped to 3700.

"I activate my face down trap card, Paralyzing Poison," Sota stated coolly, "For the remainder of this turn, one of your effect monster's special abilities is negated. The target is Hydrogeddon."

One of Sota's face down cards flipped over, and a large spiral shaped shell appeared on the field. The shell flung itself to Hydrogeddon and exploded, coating the duel monster in a poisoned, purple cloud that neutralized its effect.

"Very well," Daichi replied, "I place one card face down and end my turn."

'What a strange card,' Daichi mused as his turn ended, 'I've never seen it played before.'

He shrugged off his thoughts and focused of Sota's next move; he was a very shrewd opponent. Besides, it was nearly impossible to use fake or counterfeit cards with a duel disk especially an academy issued one. After several incidents involving the use of counterfeit cards in official duels, including one during the Battle City Duel Monsters Tournament organized and held by Seto Kaiba where a duelist impersonating Marik Ishtar used a bogus Winged Dragon of Ra in one of the final matches, Kaiba upgraded his duel disk system with an internal computer that scanned the identification numbers of each card played and checked them against a card database complied by Industrial Illusions. The internal computer also scanned the image and composition of each card to check it against the card's official design. If a card placed on a duel disk system failed to pass one or both of these check points, it would not appear on the dueling field and KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions would be immediately notified of the counterfeit card. It was practically fool proof system.

Sota drew his next card and smirked. 'I was hoping I'd draw this card early on in the game. My first two monsters set the stage, and now it's time for me to really start playing this game.'

"I play one of my most powerful creatures, Schoolgirl Kagome, in attack mode!" Sota shouted as he placed the card on his duel disk. The raven haired humanoid monster appeared on the field in a quick burst of pink light. When it faded she stood confidently with her a bow and quiver slug over her shoulder and a smile on her face. Whispers erupted across the arena at her appearance.

'Another unfamiliar card,' Daichi noted as he scrutinized the unknown female monster who, from this angle, appeared to have a pink blush appear across her cheeks as the murmurs from the crowd increased, 'Higurashi-san seems to have a lot of unknown and rare cards in his deck; I'll have to tread cautiously for the remainder of the duel.'

Sota grinned as he surveyed his opponent analyzing his monster. 'Kagome may be a weak now, but, with the right combination of cards and help from a few other monsters, she can win the match for me.'

From his spot at the side of the arena, Judai immediately recognized the raven haired monster standing on the field, garbed in a white and green girls' uniform with bright blue eyes,

"That's her!" Judai exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Sho questioned.

"That monster is Higurashi's duel spirit," Judai explained, "The one I told you about."

"Really?" Sho replied as he looked at the monster again, "I thought you just made her up, but she is really cute." The short teen felt another card crush developing as he watched the petite monster.

"But she only has 1300 attack points," Hayato mentioned even though he also appreciated the monster's appearance, "Misawa could destroy her in a second with his Hydroggedon. Why would Higurashi call her a powerful monster?"

"There must be more to her than meets the eye," Jun commented, his voice coming from behind the group. The trio turned to see him sitting one row behind them with his feet propped up on one of the empty chairs.

"Wow, Manjoume, you're sitting with us?" Judai asked cheerfully, "If I knew you'd do that, I would have saved you a seat!"

Jun rolled his eyes, not bothering to correct Judai. "You just happen to have good seats, and this duel just happens to be very interesting." There was still a sore spot on his ego due to his defeat at the hands of Daichi just before he left Duel Academy. Jun may have put it behind him after his return, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy seeing Daichi being bested by the transfer student.

"You got that right!" Judai responded before turning back to the duel.

'Kagome,' he thought happily as he committed her name to memory, 'Her name is Kagome.'

"I also play a spell card, Sacred Sutras of Sealing," Sota stated as he placed the card in his magic zone. A large mass of white paper sutras marked with black ink materialized from the card before rushing toward Hydrogeddon. The scrolls wrapped the monster from head to toe before it disappeared from the field.

"Due to my spell card's effect, one of your monsters is removed from play for three turns. Now that your Hydrogeddon is gone, Kagome, attack his life points directly with your sacred arrow."

Kagome nodded before she notched an arrow in her bow and fired. The arrow left a large trail of shimmering pink light before it collided with Daichi's chest, reducing his life points to 2500 as he cringed from its impact.

"With that, I end my turn," Sota stated smugly.

Misawa drew and repositioned his cards in his hand. "I play my face down card, Call of the Haunted. With it, I special summon Hydrogeddon from the graveyard. I also summon from my hand Oxygeddon in attack mode."

Daichi's two elemental monsters appeared on the field and stood side by side.

'His face down card could be another trap,' Daichi mused as he surveyed the field before his next move, 'There's no doubt that he'll activate it as soon as I declare an attack on his monster. However, when the effect of his sutra card wears off, I'll have all the components I need to summon Water Dragon on the field. It would be best if I get rid of his monster before I summon Water Dragon.'

"Now, Oxygeddon, attack Schoolgirl Kagome!" Daichi declared as his fly creature moved in for an attack.

I have another Oxygeddon in my hand, so, if it gets destroyed by this attack, I'll have a back up.'

"I activate my face down card, Barrier of Purifying Energy," Sota declared. When the card was activated, a pale, pink dome of shimmering energy appeared around Kagome before Oxygeddon's attack hit her. The monster's attack recoiled and hit Daichi's side of the field. Surprisingly, his monsters remained.

"After this card is activated, your attacking monster's attack is negated, and the attack points of all monsters on your side of the field that are not light attribute monsters are reduced by 30% of their original attack points for the duration of this turn."

Due to Oxygeddon's reversed attack, its attack points dropped to 1260 and Hydrogeddon's points to 1520.

"Very well," Daichi said, "I end my turn by placing one card face down."

"Why didn't he attack again?" Sho asked, "His Hydrogeddon still has enough points to destroy Higurashi-san's monster."

"He's waiting for Higurashi's spell card to wear off on his Hydrogeddon," Jun answered, "As soon as that happens, he'll summon his Water Dragon."

"And remember," Judai added, "We still don't know all there is to know about his Kagome monster. Misawa must be bidding his time before he takes an advantage."

Sota grinned as he drew his next card; it was another monster he planned to use during this duel. "I summon The Traveling Monk Miroku in defense mode."

'I was hoping I drew someone else,' Sota thought, 'but I suppose it's fitting that those two are on the field together.'

At Kagome's side, a handsome monk garbed in robes of black and purple appeared holding a golden staff. He grinned at the fellow duel monster he joined on the field before turning to Daichi's Hydrogeddon and Oxygeddon, ready for Sota to make his next move. Again, Judai recognized Sota's monster as one of his duel spirits.

"I use Miroku's special ability. By giving up his attack this turn and discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy one of your face up spell cards. I use this effect to destroy your Umiiruka field spell," Sota explained as he placed on card in his graveyard, leaving only one in his hand.

Miroku held up his right hand and pulled back the cloth covering his palm. Instantaneously, a swirling vortex appeared and sucked up the water coating the field as the card ejected from Daichi's duel disk.

"Now I change Kagome to defense mode," Sota stated as he rotated her card sideways and the monster slipped into a defensive position, "I end my turn by placing my final card face down."

'I don't know what to expect from all the unfamiliar monsters Higurashi has,' Daichi thought as his turn began, 'The best strategy I have is to summon the Water Dragon as quickly as possible. It's not the way I typically like to fight my duels, but it's the only option I have at the moment.'

"I play the De-spell card to prematurely end the effects of your spell and return my Hydrogeddon to the field," Daichi said as he laid down the spell card. His monster appeared on his side of the field next to the one identical to it.

"Now that there are two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon on the field, I activate my face down spell card, Bonding H2O, to fuse my three creatures into the powerful, Water Dragon."

The three dinosaur type monsters on Daichi's side of the field merged into the large water based sea serpent. It snarled as it towered over Sota's two, weaker humanoid monsters.

"I also equip my Water Dragon with Fairy Meteor Crush. Now, when he attacks one of your monsters in defense mode, the difference between your monster's defense points and Water Dragon's attack points will be deducted from your life points," Daichi explained. Sota frowned; it was clear that he did not expect that.

'Now to choose my target,' Daichi thought. His eyes slanted toward the female monster who Sota protected before with a trap card. 'I wonder what will happen if I select her again.'

"Water Dragon, attack Schoolgirl Kagome!" Daichi declared. At his command, the Water Dragon poised for battle, ready to hit the smaller monster with a devastating, aquatic attack.

"Not so fast!" Sota interjected, "I activate my trap, Attack Guidance Armor, and equip it to my Traveling Monk, forcing you to change the target of your attack."

The ornately designed armor appeared from beneath the card and latched onto Miroku's upper body. Curiously, Kagome looked at her battle companion with an expression of worry. Miroku merely smiled softly in direction before looking ahead and bracing himself for the inevitable assault.

"Very well," Daichi acquiesced, "Water Dragon, redirect your attack and strike the Traveling Monk Miroku." The attack went through and Sota's life points dropped by 1000 points.

'As I suspected, Higurashi did plan to protect that monster,' Daichi deduced, 'He must have something else planned.'

"I end my turn," Daichi announced.

"That kid put up a good fight," Jun commented, "but it looks like it's all over for him now."

"Yeah. He only has one weak monster on the field and no cards in his hand right now," Hayato added, "He's had a good run in this game, but I think he's done all he can do.

"Don't count him out just yet," Judai told them without taking his eyes off the match, "Higurashi will make a comeback."

Sota drew and smirked at his card. "I play the magic card, Card of Sanctity! This will allow us both to draw cards until we hold six in our hand."

"What a lucky draw!" Sho exclaimed.

"See!" Judai countered with a wide grin, "What did I tell you guys? He's turning this game around!"

"He may have more cards in his hand, but we'll see if he can use them," Jun stated.

Sota and Daichi both drew until they both held six cards in their hand. Sota smirked as he rearranged his cards.

'My strategy is nearly complete,' he thought, 'I may have had to sacrifice Miroku earlier than I planned, but his loss will not be in vain.'

"I play my Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Nigimitama in attack mode!" Sota stated as he placed the monster on the field. It appeared next to Kagome as large, pale pink bauble with a greenish sheen. "Now I use its special effect to add another Spirit of the Shikon no Tama card from my deck to my hand."

"That pendant," Asuka mentioned as her gaze fixated on the stone around Sota's neck.

"What about it?" Ryo asked her.

"Nothing," Asuka replied, "I was just thinking out loud."

Ryo nodded and returned his attention back to the match, accepting her excuse. After all, this match had a lot of elements that required thought, especially the majority of cards Sota chose to play.

Asuka pursed her lips together as she looked at Sota's pendant, the one he received from his older sister. 'I thought I saw it glow a moment ago after he played the Shikon no Tama card. It looks completely normal now. I must have imagined it.'

"I place two cards face down and end my turn," Sota stated and waited for Daichi to make his move.

'He left such a weak monster in attack mode and placed more cards face down,' Daichi thought, 'Is it a trick to coax me into attacking it so he can activate his trap or will he use it to protect his Schoolgirl Kagome? I have to make a decision; I can't waste this opportunity to gain another lead.'

"I use my Water Dragon to attack you Shikon no Tama monster!" Daichi announced. As he suspected, the attack went through without any resistance and Sota's points plummeted to 200.

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Daichi stated.

'So his face down cards weren't traps or he didn't activate them to protect the Shikon card,' Daichi surmised, 'I may have the point advantage, but I don't doubt that Higurashi can turn this duel around.' So far, Sota used a combination of trap cards to counter his attacks aimed for the Schoolgirl Kagome, waiting for whatever card combination he needed to use its full effects.

Sota grinned as he drew another card and discarded one to the graveyard.

"I play my face down card, Polymerization!" he cried, "I fuse my Schoolgirl Kagome on the field with the Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama in my hand to form Kagome the Fighting Spirit of Courage!"

Kagome merged with the Shikon no Tama and reappeared on the field in a form fitting, black kimono littered with dark red flower petals with a long skirt with splits on the sides reaching her hips and sleeves cropped short so that they passed just over her shoulders. The kimono's collar was high and buttoned around her throat. On her feet were tall black boots with a slight heel that covered her calves matching the arm covers she wore that stretched from her palm to her elbow. Tucked in each boot was a dagger, and strapped to her waist was her katana. On her back was a full quiver of arrows and in her hand she held a bow, both were much more ornate than the original weapons she had. Her raven hair was pulled into a high ponytail held together with black chopsticks. The Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama appeared on a chocker around her neck, dark red in color. The look on Kagome's face was soft and sweet like it was in her original form, but it was clear the formidable monster could switch to offensive in a second. However, with only 2300 attack points, she was still considerably weaker than the Water Dragon.

"In this form, Kagome has a special ability," Sota continued, "She gains 200 additional attack points for every warrior or beast warrior type monster in my graveyard. Right now there are two such monsters in my graveyard, Amazoness Fighter and Chiron the Mage, with brings Kagome's attack points to 2700."

"And impressive power boost," Daichi commented, "but she is still too weak to attack my dragon."

"Until I play this card," Sota said as he placed it on his duel disk, "I activate my Card Destruction spell, sending my entire hand including two more warriors to the graveyard. Kagome now has a total of 3100 attack points, more than enough to combat your dragon."

Kagome smirked as she reached into her quiver and grabbed an arrow, delicately holding it by its feathered tip.

"But, that's not all. I end my main phase by equipping Kagome with Assault Armor. However, it won't be staying long. Now that it's my battle phase, I discard it to the graveyard, allowing Kagome to attack twice this turn, once to destroy your Water Dragon and again to attack you directly!"

Kagome loaded the arrow in her bow and fired at the Water Dragon. It collided with Daichi's monster causing it to disperse in a radiant pink light, reducing Daichi's life points to 2200. She then reached for the katana around her waist and rushed toward Daichi with the intent to strike him.

"Hold it!" Daichi stated, causing the duel monster to halt, "I use my Water Dragon's effect to special summon, two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon from my graveyard."

"No, you don't," Sota countered with a devious grin, "Or have you forgotten my other face down card? It's another Paralyzing Poison trap which I activate to negate your dragon's ability. You remain defenseless!"

Once the trap was flipped over, the spiral, poison containing shell appeared in Kagome's hand. She tossed the shell in the direction of Daichi's three conjured monsters; it burst upon impact and coated the field in a thick, purple fog. Using the resulting smoke screen as a diversion, Kagome dashed behind Daichi with her katana drawn and slashed him down the middle. His life points plummeted to zero, declaring Sota the winner of the match with 200 life points remaining.

"_¡Eccellente!_" Cronos exclaimed as he took his place in the middle of the field, "The winner of the duel is Higurashi Sota! What a _spettacolare vittoria_ it was!"

The entire arena erupted in applause, avidly congratulating the young duelist on his victory. Sota deactivated his duel disk causing Kagome to disappear from the field and walked toward Daichi. The other duelist also stepped forward offering him his hand.

"Good match," Sota commented as he took Daichi's hand in his and shook it.

"Indeed," Daichi remarked, "You have some very interesting cards in that deck of yours."

Sota grinned as the two duelists' hands pulled apart. "They're one of a kind."

Daichi returned his expression. "Next time we duel, I'll be better prepared."

Sota nodded before he quickly turned heel and descended from the dueling platform. He was immediately assaulted with questions and praises from Slifer Red and Ra Yellow students. The Obelisk Blue students, excluding the female transfers who clamored for Sota's attention, only watched from a distance, refusing to speak to a lower level student.

"Hey, Higurashi," Judai called out when he made his way to the front of the mob, "Sweet duel!"

"Thanks," Sota replied, brushing off the praise as he did with the other students. However, Judai wasn't not about to be dismissed so easily.

"Ready for another throw down?" he asked, "I can't wait to duel you!"

"Thanks for the offer, but we do have class now. Maybe another time?" Sota suggested as he inched away from the enthusiastic duelist.

"Come on, Higurashi!" Judai urged him as he slung an arm over Sota's shoulders, "What's the harm in ditching one class for an awesome duel?" He let go when Cronos bopped him on the head with his microphone.

"It certainly won't affect your poor performance, dropout boy," Cronos scolded, "But, unlike you, Sota-san has a promising academic career!"

"Well—I—umm…" Judai stuttered. He frowned when he noticed that Sota used this distraction to leave the arena and disappear down a hallway.

'Looks like I'll have to wait a little while longer,' he thought before turning his attention to Cronos.

"Well, sensei," Judai began, "since you already said going to class isn't going to help me out, think I could be excused from all your lectures for the rest of the semester?"

"Get to class, slacker!"

-O0o0O-

When Sota slipped away from all the excitement, he managed to find an empty classroom. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. After making sure he was truly alone, Sota called out to one of the spirits in his deck.

"Miroku-san?" he said and the male spirit appeared before him.

"Yes?" Miroku answered politely.

"You did well in today's duel," Sota commended him before changing the subject, "I want you to keep an eye on Misawa. He seems like the investigative type, and there's no doubt that he'll start looking for info on my deck as soon as possible. We can't have him causing trouble for us."

"Understood," Miroku replied, "Should I begin immediately?"

"Yes," Sota stated, "I also want you to keep tabs on other top duelists in Ra Yellow. I want your investigation to be thorough, so don't concern yourself with being absent for a while. Kagome will cover for your other duties until you come back."

"I see," Miroku remarked, "Are you going to arrange another duel with one of the competent duelists I find?"

Sota shook his head. "There'll be no more formal duel requests now that I've dueled Misawa. As I said before, we'll have to lay low. I'm certain that the match attracted a lot of attention from other students." He thought of the Slifer Red that tried to coerce him to duel earlier; his type were hard to avoid. "I can't do anything other than try to avoid it if someone requests a duel with me, formally or otherwise. For now, I only want you to gather the names and information I need, so I can reference them later."

"Very well," Miroku commented before he disappeared, "You can count of me."

Once he was gone, Sota reached for his deck box containing the cards he didn't have in the deck he used in today's duel. He flipped though them until he spotted a certain card. He pulled it from the stack he held and a translucent figure appeared in front of him. She was a pale, slender woman clothed in billowing clothes of red and white, a traditional beauty. Even so, Sota didn't care for her as much as he did the others from her bland expression to her cold, bittersweet chocolate eyes.

"You need me?" she asked him uninterestedly.

"I need you to start gathering data on the top duelists in the Obelisk Blue dorms," Sota told her, "The Obelisk dorm is a lot larger than the others considering that all girls enrolled in the academy are placed there. I trust that you should be able to find it on your own."

The priestess nodded, but Sota could see that harsh resentment in her stance, what she tried to hide. She didn't like being literally in the pam of Sota's hand, at his complete and utter disposal.

"Anything else?" she asked him.

Sota shook his head. "No, that's all I have of you."

Just before she sure could disappear, Sota called out to her. "Kikyo-san?"

The apparition looked at him and lifted a slender eyebrow without staying a word.

"Don't report back until you've gathered all available information," Sota stated, "We can't proceed without it."

"I understand," Kikyo responded before she disappeared completely. Once Kikyo was gone, Sota called out to one more of his cards, the last one of the trio who could take a spectral form.

"Nee-chan," he greeted her warmly when Kagome appeared before him.

"Yes?" Kagome answered, smiling cheerfully at her brother.

"You did wonderfully," Sota told her, "and you won the match."

"That's only because of how you played me," Kagome replied, a blush tinting her cheeks, "After all, a card is pretty useless without someone to play it correctly."

"I suppose so," Sota commented.

"So what do you else do want?" Kagome probed, knowing that he didn't call her out just to congratulate her.

"I need you to find the names of the top duelist in Slifer Red," Sota stated, "I already sent Miroku-san and Kikyo-san to do the same in the other two dorms."

"Slifer Red?" Kagome repeated and immediately thought of Judai. If he could communicate with duel spirits, then it wasn't too farfetched to believe that he was a decent duelist.

Sota nodded. "I'm not sure if there will be many competent duelists in the Red dorms according to what everyone says about it, but it pays to be thorough in our search. I also need you to take over Miroku's duties during class. You're workload during the investigation should be less intensive than the others', so you can handle both tasks on you're own."

Kagome nodded enthusiastically. "You can count on me! I promise I won't let you down."

Sota smiled in return and opened the door to the classroom. "Let's go to class. I suspect that we're already a few minutes late."

As Sota walked down the hallway, Kagome clung close to him. She had a lot on her mind.

'So I have to start looking at all the students in the Slifer Red dorms,' Kagome thought, 'Judai-san is most the obvious person to start looking at. But I think it would be best to keep him away from Sota. I don't know what he'd do him once he finds out he can see me.' As much as she hated to consider it, her brother was a bit more vindictive than he used to be. Kagome hoped Judai didn't acknowledge her with Sota around.

'I'll just have to talk to him about it before it comes to that,' Kagome decided.

Earlier today when he tried speaking to her again after she met his cute Winged Kuriboh was unexpectedly wonderful. She'd be able to move freely without suspicion since Sota gave her this new task. In addition to that, Miroku and Kikyo, the only ones who could check up on her, were out of commission as well. She'd have to use this time as thoughtfully as she could.

'Tonight,' she thought firmly, 'I'm going to see him again.'

-O0o0O-

punkish furball – That's a wrap! XD I hope you all enjoyed it. Sota certainly has his work cut out for him after that impressive duel. He and his duel spirits will be getting acquainted with the rest of Duel Academy really soon.

Also, I'd like some feedback on the cards used list. If you would like me to continue using it in chapters containing a major duel, please let me know. Please note that after a card's description is given once, it will not be given again. That means that all of the cards used in this chapter that are used in any other chapters will only be mentioned by name and all of their information will not be listed. Until then, L83RN355! ^.^

(edited 11.01.2012)

**Cards Used in Chapter 3 by Order of Appearance:**

An asterisk (*) by a monster's name **denotes** **an author (punkish furball) created card**. An asterisk (*) by a card's effect **denotes the use of** **an effect used in the anime/manga** rather than the official description printed on the card itself.

1. Amazoness Fighter  
Earth Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 4  
1500 attack points  
1300 defense points  
Effect: You take no battle damage from battles involving this card.

2. Hydrogeddon  
Water Attribute; Dinosaur Type; Level 4  
1600 attack points  
1000 defense points  
Effect: When this card destroys a monster your opponent controls by battle and sends it to the graveyard: You can special summon one "Hydrogeddon" from your deck.

3. Chiron the Mage  
Earth Attribute; Beast-Warrior Type; Level 4  
1800 attack points  
1000 defense points  
Effect: Once per turn: You can discard one spell card to target one spell/trap card your opponent controls; destroy that target.

4. Pot of Greed  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Draw two cards.

5. Umiiruka  
Field Spell Card  
Effect: All water monsters gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points.

6. Paralyzing Poison*  
Normal Trap Card  
Effect: The special effect of one monster on the field is negated for the duration of the turn when this card is activated.

7. Schoolgirl Kagome*  
Light Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 3  
1300 attack points  
1500 defense points  
Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by the effect of a spell card. When this card successfully destroys one of your opponent's monsters, randomly send a card from your opponent's hand to the graveyard.

8. Sacred Sutras of Sealing*  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: For three turns, one of your opponent's monsters is removed from play.

9. Call of the Haunted  
Continuous Trap Card  
Effect: Target one monster in your graveyard; special summon that target in face-up attack position. When this card leaves the field, destroy that target. When the target is destroyed, destroy this card.

10. Oxygeddon  
Wind Attribute; Dinosaur Type; Level 4  
1800 attack points  
800 defense points  
*Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle with a fire attribute monster and sent to the graveyard, inflict 800 points of damage to both players.

11. Barrier of Purifying Energy*  
Normal Trap Card  
Effect: When this card is activated, your opponent's declared attack is negated and the attack points of all non-light attribute monsters on your opponent's side of the field is reduced by 30%.

12. The Traveling Monk Miroku*  
Light Attribute; Spellcaster Type; Level 3  
1400 attack points  
1800 defense points  
Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by the effect of a spell card. Once per turn, negate the effect of any spell card on the field and destroy it. This card cannot attack the turn this effect is used.

13. De-Spell  
Normal Spell Card  
*Effect: Destroy one spell card on the field.

14. Bonding H2O  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Tribute two "Hydrogeddons" and one "Oxygeddon". Special summon one "Water Dragon" from you hand, deck, or graveyard.

15. Water Dragon  
Water Attribute; Sea Serpent Type; Level 8  
2800 attack points  
2600 defense points  
Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of "Bonding H2O". While this card is face-up on the field, the attack of fire attribute monsters and pyro type monsters become 0. When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you can special summon two "Hydrogeddons" and one "Oxygeddon" from your graveyard.

16. Fairy Meteor Crush  
Equip Spell Card  
Effect: When the equipped monster attacks a defense position monster whose defense is lover than the equipped monster's attack, inflict the difference as battle damage to your opponent.

17. Attack Guidance Armor (anime/movie only card)  
Normal Trap Card  
Effect: After activation, equip this card to a face-up monster. Your opponent cannot select a card other than the equipped monster as an attack target.

18. Card of Sanctity  
Normal Spell Card  
*Effect: Both players draw from their respective decks until they each have six cards in their hand.

19. Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Nigimitama*  
Light Attribute; Fairy Type; Level 2  
300 attack points  
500 defense points  
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned to the field, add another "Spirit of the Shikon no Tama" monster card from your deck or graveyard to your hand.

20. Polymerization  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Send, from your hand or your side of the field to the graveyard, the fusion material monsters that are listed on a fusion monster card, the special summon that monster from your extra deck.

21. Spirit of the Shikon no Tama: Aramitama*  
Light Attribute; Fairy Type; Level 2  
300 attack points  
500 defense points  
Effect: When this card is successfully summoned to the field, add another "Spirit of the Shikon no Tama" monster card from your deck or graveyard to your hand.

22. Kagome the Fighting Sprit of Courage*  
Fusion; Earth Attribute; Warrior Type; Level 8  
2300 attack points  
1900 defense points  
Effect: For every warrior or beast-warrior type monster in your graveyard, this monster gains 200 attack points.

23. Card Destruction  
Normal Spell Card  
Effect: Each player discards their entire hand then draws the same number of cards they discarded.

24. Assault Armor  
Equip Spell Card  
*Effect: Equip only to a warrior type monster that is the only monster you control. It gains 300 attack points. During your battle phase, you can send this equipped card to the graveyard to allow the equipped monster to attack twice during each battle phase this turn.

If you have any comments or corrections concerning the usage of these cards in this chapter, please carefully review **ALL OF THE OUTLINED INFORMATION** in the cards used section **BEFORE **contacting me. I wanted to be sure that all written duels were as easily understandable as possible to make your reading experience as enjoyable as possible! XD


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